Charrette 1: Building Selection

What is a 'charrette'? A charrette is an intensive planning session wherein participants from different disciplines explore and present ideas to collaborate on a vision for a project.

The first charrette for the Charleston Vertical Farm Design Feasibility Study was held on September 16th in Charleston. The purpose of the first charrette was to select one property in downtown Charleston to focus the design feasibility study on. Three properties were initially selected to be discussed during the charrette and a participant invitee list that represented a substantial profile of the community of Charleston was developed and invitations sent out. Graduate students from the Clemson University School of Architecture developed introductory presentations for the charrette participants that detailed vertical farming and the need for community outreach and service of this type in Charleston.

Charrette participants were divided up into three groups for the day and were asked to consider many variables in making a case for the property they were assigned to, including location in the community, needs and demographics of the surrounding community area, building structure and property footprint. The teams developed S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) and
site-concept profiles for their assigned property.

Final presentations from all three groups were made at the end of the day, and a ballot vote by the participants afterward pointed to the Port City Paper building on King Street as the property to focus the feasibility study on.

The introductory student presentations and the final group presentations can be downloaded and viewed at the following links: